111op

Hi, maybe this hotel is a dump, but I booked it for one night.

Now, when I called the hotel, the rate offered was 110/130 Euros. Venere gives 140 Euros. I booked through Utell at 85 Euros. But actually, bancotel offers this hotel for a single coupon (50 Euros). The trouble is, I don't really need a book of coupons.

So, is there a trick to getting the best rate? Can I do better than 85 Euros?

Thanks.

artlover

You can get bancotel coupons for less than 5 coupon books (or more) from petrabax.com, but for only one night it might not be worth it as they charge a $25 shipping fee.

111op

Interesting. Could you please explain how this works for future reference?

I went to

http://www.epetrabax.com/bancotel/index.asp

and checked Plaza Nueva for the date I wanted, but it's too soon. I guess there's not enough time for me to book this hotel through this system.

But in the bottom section, there's a place to order the check books, but there's no option for ordering single checks (the minimum seems to be a book of 5). Is there another section somewhere?

Thanks.

TopMan

You e-mail or call the hotel and tell them all those "rates" and ask them to match the lowest one. No, you don't ask if they "can" match it....you simply ask them to match it. That's the "secret" if you can call it that.

111op

I'm obviously too polite a person. Have you done this yourself, TopMan?

I had actually checked the rate on Utell before calling the hotel, so obviously I booked through Utell. But then I was doing a random search and I discovered it was listed on Bancotel. Technically I'm not sure if I could ask them to match that rate -- the only way I could actually secure that rate was to buy a book of 5 coupons, and I don't want to do that.

But I'm intrigued by the suggestion of buying one or two coupons. If that's possible I'd love to know how. Perhaps for a future trip.

Personally I'm really surprised that there's such a big variation in rates. My hotel in Lisbon is offered at 20 Euros cheaper per night on bookings.nl than on Utell. Granted, the room types may not be the same (the one on Utell may be bigger), but I'm happy with a smaller room.

IgorVodov

YOu can call Petrabax office here in the US. They can ship you 1 or 2 coupons. That is going to be 50 Euros + 25 dollars shipping fee. Then you can call the hotel and tell them that you will have bancotel coupon and they will book it for you.

111op

Thanks Igor. I'm leaving today, so it's too late. I guess it's a good lesson learned (could have saved $20).

Do you know what the Petrabax # is in the US? This could be useful for someone else reading this thread.

Thanks again!